A discourse occasioned by the death of Col. James Morrison : delivered in the Episcopal church, Lexington, Kentucky, May 19th, 1823

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OCCASIONED BY THE

DEATH

COL: JAMES MORRISON.

DELIVERED IN THE

EPISCOPAL CHURCH,

LEXINGTON, KENTIICK Y>
May 19th3 1823,

BY THE

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BIT: M®MA(OM M©mmi¥5 A fit*

PRESIDENT

OF

TRA.YS YL VAJSTM UXIFERSITY*

LEXINGTON,

TV-X^TT.J} Bt JOHN BEAJ>F

1823,

AT a Meeting of the Board of Trustees of Transylvania Universi-
ty, May 5th, 1823, Resolved, that the Trustees, as a testimony of their
deep sense of the loss sustained by this Institution in the death of their
late highly respected Chairman, Colonel James Morrison, who de-
parted this life on the 23rd of April, 1823, at the City of Washington,
will wear crape on the left arm for one month.

Resolved, that the Trustees, Faculties, and Students of the Univer-
sity will unite with the Citizens of Lexington, and such others as may
choose to join, in a Funeral Procession, on Monday the 19th day of
May, 1823, in honour of the Memory of Colonel Morrison, late Chair-
man of the Board of Trustees.

Resolved, that the Rev: Mr Hoiley, President of this Institution^
be requested to deliver a suitable Funeral Oration on the above oc-
casion <.

WILLIAM MACBEAN, Clerk of the Beard,

AT a Meeting of the Board of Trustees of Transylvania Universi-
ty, May 19th, 1823, Resolved, that the thanks of the Board be present-
ed to Mr Hoiley for the Funeral Oration, which, at their request,
he this day delivered on the occasion of the death of the late Co-
lonel James Morrison, Chairman of the Board, and that he be re-
quested to furnish a copy of it for publication, and for preservation in
the archives of the Institution ; and that James Trotter, John Til-
ford, and Benjamin Gratz be a Committee to carry this resolution
into effect,

WILLIAM MACJBEAN, Clerk of the Board.

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DISCOURSE.

f

A good man is dead, and we mourn. He lives in a
more glorious state of being, and we rejoice. As he
was virtuous, benevolent, and amiable, we loved him;
as he was industrious, intelligent, 'useful, and success-
ful, we respected him; as he was hospitable and gene-
rous, we applauded him; as he was patriotic, philan-
thropic, and munificent, we admired him; as he was
honest, candid, faithful, and religious, we held commu-
nion with him; as he was our friend and benefactor,
the patron of learning, the supporter of good morals,
the defender of sound principles, and the advocate of
every valuable measure, we will remember him with
gratitude, and embalm his name in his virtues.

If we are asked why we meet each other thus, such
is our reply. If we are interrogated about our motives,
we point to the eloquent answer drawn out in the life
and services of the man whose loss we deplore, and
from whose kindness, hospitality, and wealth, we can
hope to receive no advantages but those already secur-
ed. We know that we are exercising the noblest feel-
ings of our nature, those which are most acceptable to

6

our Common Parent, our Universal Friend. Our hearts
assure us that this is not an empty ceremony, but a
spontaneous and united act of respect and attachment,
in which every good citizen is sincerely and deeply en-
gaged.

That there should be mistakes in some particulars
about the real character of the deceased is inevitable
from the laws which govern the human mind, and from
the varying condition of individuals in society. He
was brought into contact with too many persons and
interests, had the control of too many means, moved
in too la! ge a sphere, was too inflexible, and achiev-
ed too many important purposes, to escape the usual
misconstructions that attend active, persevering, and
efficient men. But such mistakes are corrected by
time and reflection. When competition has ceased, and
jealousy is no longer excited, judgment, candour, and
kindness resume their seat, and truth and justice are
freely administered.

This discourse will be greatly misunderstood, if the
audience should suppose that I think it requisite to ap-
peal to the maxim, which forbids us to say any thing but
good concerning the dead, or to exaggerate acknowledg-
ed excellencies, in order to make out a well propor-
tioned and impressive eulogy. After a diligent inquiry
among many of his contemporaries, such as knew him
intimately for a series of years embracing youth, man-
hood, and age, in the vicissitudes of poverty and wealthy
trial and success, I am fully supported in the declara-
tion that his life, simply and honestly detailed, is a high-
%r panegyric than any, which genius could invent, or

rhetoric display; not indeed as brilliant, antithetical, and
imposing, but more beautifully natural, more practical-
ly powerful, and more truly honourable.

There are unquestionably among us men of greater
talents, of rarer endowments; men who fill a larger
space in the public eye, and who take a deeper hold on
national sympathy; men whose death would affect, not
our own commonwealth alone, but the United States,
and would be considered as a calamity to the Republic;
but it may well be doubted, if we could select an indi-
vidual, whose loss, in the usual relations and interests
of society, would be more deeply felt, and more cordial-
ly lamented by the inhabitants of this vicinity. The
propriety and value of this remark will be promptly es-
timated, not only by his family and relatives, but by his
associates in business; by the number of active and use-
ful persons who were reputably and profitably employ-
ed upon his capital for the maintenance and education of
amiable families; by the civil, ecclesiastical, and social
institutions of the town accustomed to receive his liber-
al and discriminating support; by the lovers of a ready
and generous hospitality to strangers ; and by the im-
mediate governors, and more widely distributed pupils
and friends of the University.

As an introduction to the brief sketch of his life and
analysis of his character, which the occasion demands,
and which I am required to attempt, I can select noth-
ing more appropriate, nothing more indicative of the
habitual influence that governed him, nothing more cer-
tain of your owTn approbation and sympathy, than the
admirable motto, which, in the office of his daily busi-

8

Bess and most important transactions, be placed con*
spicuously over his desk, and which his old and tried
friend, the venerable DjARidgely, has preserved as a
precious relic, a striking moral memento of an uninter-
rupted mutual attachment for nearly half a century-
This truly philanthropic and pious sentiment is thus ex-
pressed:

"The most exalted reputation is' that, which
arises from the dispensation op happiness to our
fellow creatures', and that conduct is most ac-
ceptable to g0b9 which is most beneficial to

MAN."

This, we cannot fail to unite in declaring, is indeed
a golden rule of life. We must recognise in it a synop-
sis of the best precepts, which the best moralists, philo-
sophers, statesmen, and divines have taught Jt is wor-
thy of an entire page, and that the first anc/ fairest, in
our diaries, and of an everlasting engraving yh our mem*
ories. It is now more particularly interesting to us, be-
cause it is at once both the index and the text of the life
of him, whose departure we lament, and whose name
wc shall ever be proud to repeat, JAMES MORRI-
SON,

Our friend, the son of a poor but worthy and respect-
able man from Ireland, was born in the year 1755, in
the county of Cumberland in Pennsylvania, He con-
tinued with his father in the usual employments of ag-
riculture till toward the close of his minority. Ile'en-
tered early intb the service of his country * and was for

9

several years a soldier in the war that secured our Na-
tional Independence. He was one of the Select Corps
of Riflemen that made itself so dreadful to our enemies
tinder the command of the celebrated Colonel Morgan,
afterward the hero of the Cowpens. He was in those
hard fought battles of 1777 about Saratoga, that ended
in complete victory, in the capture of Burgoyne with
his whole army; and he was distinguished for his per-
sonal bravery and skill by his countrymen who were
gloriously contending at his side. On one occasion in
the autumn of that memorable year, his corps fought
nearly the whole day, and saw the field, such was the
obstinacy of the contest, taken and retaken four times
before sunset. The fact is worthy of being recorded
in this place, that Colonel Morgan, writing about this
victory to an intimate friend in Virginia, uses the fa-
miliar but emphatic language thatsuch an intimacy jus-
tifies, "My boy^ if ever 1 deserved glory r, it was on that
dayP

The true -history, but its unwritten portion, that re-
counts the deeds of this distinguished corps of rangers,
under whose fatal aim the accomplished Frazer with
many a British foem an fell, when the tide of battle was
turned back upon the enemy, gives to Morrison an am-
ple share in the dangers, hardships, merits, and triumphs
of that immortal band of invincible patriots. Those
are still living, and are among ourselves, who can bear
testimony to the courage, discipline, and efficiency of
our departed benefactor in the numerous enterprises of
hazard, and in the employments of peculiar confidence
and difficulty, in which he was engaged for the defence

10

of his country. I have been struck with the tone of
animation, and with the countenance of light, even amid
the wrinkles and sun-burnt hues of age, with which his
surviving companions in the Revolutionary Struggle
speak of his character, his personal appearance, his zeal
and collectedness, and his general merits as a soldier.

With the fatigues and privations of a hunter's life he
was long familiar, and was often called, as the numer*
ous anecdotes among yourselves will show, to meet the
stratagems and surprises of Indian warfare. A quick
ear, a keen eye, habitual vigilance, a vigorous muscie5
and an active limb, qualified him peculiarly for the un-
welcome and dangerous but important office of a spy5
in which, on great emergencies, he sometimes consent-
ed to be employed for the common good.

After peace was established, and the United States
were admitted to their just rank among sovereign and
independent nations, Morrison settled himself at Pitts-
burgh in his native state, and became the first sheriff of
the county of Allegany, where he continued to reside
for several years., and where his name is remembered and
cherished by a large circle of distinguished friends.
During this period, he was married at Carlisle in the
county of his birth, and soon formed and executed the
determination of removing to Kentucky, In the year
1774, he had, in company with Colonel William Thom-
son, visited, and surveyed with delight, the green fields
and majestic rivers of this beautiful and fertile region,
and had gained in that expedition such a degree of ac-
curate local knowledge of the co untry as induced him
to select one of its happiest portions for the theatre of

II

his future fortunes. He commenced business as a mer-
chant in this town in 1792, and met with that success
which crowned all the principal acts of his life. In
1795, he was appointed by Governor Shelby, in the ex-
ercise of that sound judgment and practical discrimina-
tion which have always characterised this patriotic and
faithful servant of the public, Commissioner to assign
lands to settlers south of the Green River. In 1797,
he was elected a Representative of Fayette County in
the Legislature of the State, and was soon afterward
appointed by President Adams Supervisor of the reve-
nue of the Union arising both from direct and indirect
taxes in the District of Kentucky. It was in this office
that he proved the power of good sense, a good charac-
ter, and conciliatory manners, over the minds of the peo-
ple, even in regard to unpopular measures, rendered
still more odious, in this section of the United States,
by the mismanagement, or at least the unfortunate
course of their friends. Instead of losing, he gained
credit and influence by his faithful discharge of duty.

Since that time, he has been successively engaged in
extensive and highly responsible trusts under the Fede-
ral Government, as Navy Agent, and as Contractor for
the supply of the North Western Army in our late war.
I have been assured by the most respectable men, that
the efforts, the difficulties, and the personal responsibili-
ties, which he made, met, and assumed at that arduous
period, were far greater than the community had the
means of knowing, the leisure to estimate, or the secu-
rity and ability to reward. His services in the depart-
ment of the Quarter Master General, where he acquir-

12

e,d the titular Tank of Colonel, were never entirely re-
munerated, even so far as the refunding of the money ex-
pended from his private purse is concerned, till the last
session of Congress, when his claim for many thous-
ands was completely established and fully allowed, thus
furnishing a new proof of the justice of our Republic,
and of its attention to the rights of its deserving citi-
zens.

The standing, integrity, and ability of Colonel Mor-
rison pointed him out at once to the gentlemen, who di-
rected the complicated concerns of the Bank of the
United States in Philadelphia, as a suitable person first
to fill the office of President of the Branch in this place.
He held the chair with the entire approbation of the
principals and the public, till he voluntarily resigned it
into the hands of its other friends. The last office that
lie filled, to the duties of which he gave his whole soul,
was that of Chairman of the Board of Trustees of our
beloved and flourishing University. How zealously,
patiently, and faithfully he attended to all the interests of
the institution, during its trials from poverty and oppo-
sition, as well as after its generous relief by the munifi-
cence of the Legislature, I need not declare to those who
have acted with him, and who have been so frequently
assembled and stimulated by his unwearied assiduity.
In the service of the University, he forgot age and sick-
ness, and knew neither rest nor fatigue. It was his
adopted and favourite child, and has been remembered
and honoured as his most distinguished heir. He felt
that the chief value of truth, liberty, humanity, religion,
and immortality, depends on a well directed education^

cm a rational and moral formation of character, on the
illumination and improvement of the mind; and that
without this, they would be unable to bestow that di-
versified and perfect happiness which is necessary to
satisfy the inexhaustible and ever expanding faculties
of the soul. Revered, and gratefully celebrated, as well
as publicly acknowledged, be that Divine Providence,
which always supplies the wants of man, especially
those of the undying mind, and which always overrules
abuses for their own correction, making light spring out
of darkness, and forcing necessity itself to call forth the
men and the means that are to convert it into the high*
est good! \

We are indeed tempted to regret that Colonel Morri-
son died at a distance from home and from us; but we
know that he was compelled by a regard to his charac-
ter for integrity and accuracy as a man of business, as
well as by the amount of his just claims upon the na-
tional treasury, to visit the seat of our General Govern-
ment, where a lingering and painful disease found him
at last a victim to its ravages. We can scarcely prevent
our thoughts from dwelling on the numerous attentions
and soothing offices, which we could have rendered to
him at his own house, in the bosom of his family, and in
the circle of his immediate relatives and townsmen.
We are grieved too by the loss that we have sustained
in being deprived of the opportunity to improve our own
minds and hearts in witnessing his patience and forti-^
tude under suffering, in studying the sources of his tran-
quility and triumphant philosophy, in examining the
features of that rational and divine religion by which,

u

his soul was elevated and harmonised, in learning from
his conversation and example how far a sensible and in-
quiring man, without the advantages of an academical
education, or of liberal instruction in the principles of a
catholic theology as separated from the dogmas and ad-
ditions of the schools, may carry his mind into the more
exalted regions of religious truth and freedom, even
amidst the cares and embarrassments of a varied life of
activity and extensive business. But while we have a
right to admit these affectionate and honourable regrets,
we are consoled by the many considerations which the
state of facts and of circumstances presses upon our
minds. Though he was not with us, he was in the
midst of friends, friends too who had known him well
in other times and in other scenes. So few of our Re-
volutionary Worthies are now to be found in the walks
of our busy and protected life of peace and trade, and so
numerous and unquestioned are the fruits of the wis-
dom and labours of the generation which made us free
and independent, that the halo around every man of that
glorious day becomes peculiarly bright and "far-dart-
ing," and while it catches all eyes, assembles about the
possesor respectful, admiring, and sympathetic friends
of every age and of either sex. This charm surround-
ed Morrison in the Capital of a land of an open hearted
people, and would alone have secured to him, had oth-
er reasons not been sufficient, the most prompt, effect-
ual, and tender attentions. He was however personal-
ly known and sincerely respected by the highest offi-
cers of the government, was an old and intimate friend
af our excellent Chief Magistrate, and could claim, as

15

he received, every courtesy and delicate as well as faith-
ful service at their hands. Acquaintances in all the
circles of his past life recognised him with promptitude
and joy, and the scenes and sympathies of other places
and other years were renewed for his entertainment and
relief. In addition to this, he had the assiduous, well
directed, cordial, and devoted attentions of that able
man, that eminent counsellor, that distinguished states-
man, who had long been his most intimate friend, his
confidential and constant adviser, one who knew every
thought and purpose of his mind, every wish and throb
of his heart, and who could administer more varied and
effectual consolation than any other individual.* To
complete the alleviations attending this lamented death,
we have to thank a good Providence, that his affec-
tionate and faithful wife, after an anxious and pro-
tracted journey, arrived several days before the event,
and had the opportunity to furnish those peculiar conso-
lations, and to supply the wants that arise from those
domestic and cherished feelings of the soul, which this
most sacred of all connections can alone call forth, and
alone reach with an irresistible influence.

As it was destined that he should die from his own
town and home, he could not have chosen, had the pri-
vilege been allowed to him, a more appropriate place3
one more gratifying to his patriotism, or to his lauda-
ble regard to his name and his character. His ashes
sleep near to those of the Father of his Country, and
on the very spot where Washington fixed the Seat of
Empire.

A few remarks only are necessary to furnish you

* The Hon: Henry Clay.

16v

with a correct general impression concerning the man-
ner of this useful man's death. His complaint has not
yet been professionally described, but is said to have
been an abscess in his side,* which affected his whole
system, and produced extreme emaciation. It is grati-
fying to us to know that he was uniformly firm, tran-
quil, patient, and resigned ; that he retained the use of
his mental powers to the last moment; that he continu-
ed to read and converse upon moral and religious sub-
jects, and particularly the New Testament, in which
he marked with his pen f?ie most striking and useful
passages, till a few days before his death, when he was
obliged to lay aside the use of books ; that he joined
daily in the offices of devotion with the respectable,
faithful, and attentive clergymen who visited himf; that
he found his religious opinions as clear, as decided, and
as effectual upon the state of his mind, in the close of
life, as in the days of his best health and greatest strength ;
and that he died with equal honour as a philosopher and
a christian.

Such is the outline of Colonel Morrison's life, which
I have been able to collect, and which I hope will, in
some humble measure, meet the claims of the present
occasion. As in the case of every good man, so in
this, by far the most interesting part is that which can
never be detailed to the public, the daily acts of duty,
benevolence, hospitality, and secret kindness, which
filled up his long career of industry, integrity, and use-
fulness. Were this the place to give a minute biogra-
phy, and to draw out the numerous anecdotes which I
have collected, and which mark his various worth, I

* See the Letter of Dr Cutbush in the Appendix.
■\. The Rev: Messrs Laurie, Hawley, and McCormick-

17

could detain you, not for the short period of a popular
discourse, but to hoar me recite a volume. Although
this is forbidden, a slight review of the characteristic
features of his mind, and the general course of his opin-
ions, may be allowed, and would probably be demanded.
It has already been suggested that Colonel Morrison
had not the advantages of an academical education, but
that he laboured under many privations in this respect.
The poverty of his parents, the new state of the coun-
try where he resided, and the active life which he was
obliged to lead, forbade an early attention to letters, and
to the scientific discipline of his mind. He wTas how-
ever endowed by nature with a good understanding, a
sound judgment, clear though not rapid perceptions, an
ardent desire of knowledge, and unconquerable pa-
tience and perseverance in every pursuit upon which he
had once entered He accomplished himself as far as
possible, by private and nightly study, in the usual
branches of an English education, and advanced through
an honourable distance in this course. His language
was marked by general correctness, and even elegance^
and he was able to express himself, both by the voice
and the pen, with force and felicity. He had an. un-
feigned attachment to books, and those of the most valu-
able kind, such as give us just, practical, and philoso-
phical views of our nature, relations, and duties; but
he cared little for works of mere criticism, for technical
defences of principles or dogmas, for authorities col-
lected and arranged to support unnatural, uncomfort-
able, and injurious systems of belief, and for narrow and
exclusive purposes. He studied men most in the on-

18

ginal, but was always sincerely grateful for the aids
which he derived from the writings of the enlightened
and judicious. He was particularly fond of those books
which combine, in a popular form, mental philosophy
with ethics and divinity, and which show us how we
may be most naturally wise and useful here, and most
rationally and practically sure of an active, intelligent^
happy., and progressive existence hereafter. It was his
delight to search out the harmony, which he knew must
prevail between all the modes of divine instruction^
whether in a revelation by the works of creation, by
laws and their administration, by the constitution of the
powers and affections of the various orders of minds,
by *he nature and uses of matter, by the history of so-
ciety and government, or by the pages of holy writ.
Though habitually cautious and discreet, moderate and
forbearing, he was bold and independent in his religious
opinions, and he rejected, both as unnecessary and un-
true, the artificial doctrines of scholastic theology. His
conciliatory disposition and native courtesy appeared
conspicuously in all his conversations upon these sub-
jects. Firm and undeviating in the principles, which
he believed to be at once correct and important, he was
disposed to inquire rather than to argue with those
who sought honestly and ingenuously for truth. But;
when he saw the bigoted and intolerant use unworthy
means, appeal to base prejudices, and employ unright-
eous denunciations against the upright advocate of free
inquiry and religious liberty in opinions and worship,
he was capable of being roused to a high degree of se-
verity, and of pursuing a lofty tone of expostulation and

19

rebuke. Though he was a defender of liberality, and
would secure to every man the full enjoyment of his
opinions, and the fair expression of them with a corres-
pondent course of action, yet he was not so fastidious
or weak as to permit his rights to be assailed with im-
punity, and his privileges to be taken from him by the
intolerant under the sophism that the freedom of thought
and action, which he avowed, justified them in slander-
ing his motives, misrepresenting his faith, calumniating
his good name, diminishing his usefulness, or impeding
his lawful progress in society. It is not difficult for a
fair mind to understand the limitations of one's own
rights by the rights of others. Whenever a conscience
becomes so perverted as to make the possessor think it
his duty to persecute, it is time to resist and punish
him as a common nuisance, unless indeed in this free
and happy country, the best and surest of all punish-
ments is to let him alone, or leave him to the natural
indignation of an offended people. We are bound to
bear abuses for the sake of uses, but not for any other
reason. It is not required of us that we consent, in
regard to civil or ecclesiastical usurpation under the
claims of legitimacy, to the right of the wolf to muddy
the water in the stream above us, and then to charge the
turbidness, raised by his own feet, upon ours, either for
the purpose of devouring us, or of preventing his merit-
ed punishment, or of forbidding us to go and drink at
the pure sources of the current.

Colonel Morrison was a christian in his sentiments
and practice, but did not consider the peculiarities of
any of the sectariau creeds in religion, whether papal

m

or protestant, ancient or modern, as necessary, or a^
useful, or as ornamental to this character. He had
large views and philanthropic feelings, and recognised
the wisdom, authority, goodness, and impartiality of
the Deity io all the relations of life, in the wide variety
of natural scenery before him, in the the temple made
without hands as well as in that erected by human art
and consecrated to the immediate acts of formal wor-
ship, in the ages that are past as well as in those now
present, in the foreign city and cottage of the distant
gentile as well as in the metropolis of Christendom and
the village church of the pious followers of the heaven-
directed teacher of Nazareth, With him, a life of
virtue was the most acceptable homage to the Deity. He
knew and felt that the end of all genuine religion is to
make men good, useful, and happy. He ordinarily at-
tended worship in the churches of the Presbyterians, a
highly respectable and pious body of christians; but he
was entirely eclectic in his principles, taking truth wher-
ever he found it, and giving the hand of fellowship to all
good men of every country and denomination. In this
respect he invites our imitation, and furnishes us with a
suitable occasion to thank our Heavenly Father for the
happy formation of his character, for the judicious di?
rection of his opinions, and for the catholic scope of hig
philanthropic communion.

The hospitality of Colonel Morrison was proverbial
The town is eminently indebted to him for its reputa-
tion in this enviable particular, and the strangers., who
visit us, have lost an opulent, prompt, and generous

m

In bis habits of business lie was exact and punctual,
The love of order was so strong in him that I have
sometimes thought he paid more attention to the details
of means and methods than the ends required. This
however is an example so little likely to prove conta-
gious in our community, that I ^rould rather encourage
its extension than dwell upon its particularity.

His manners were a very favourable specimen of
the old school, which showed itself in his dress, in
his whole personal appearance, and in all the forms of
his intercourse, but blended and tempered with much
of the feeling and ease attending our more careless, and
perhaps slovenly modern exterior and demeanor.

When it is emphatically asserted that he was chari-
' table and generous, although none may feel inclined to
deny it, yet all may not have the means of knowing the
extent in which the assertion is true. He was not in-
deed profuse, was not indiscriminate in his benevolence,
was not ready to yield at once to every call that might
he made upon his bounty. He retained, even in this
part of his character, the habits of exactness and vigil-
ance with which he conducted his common business,
and was always anxious to connect his benefactions
with the salutary feeling of responsibility in the benefi-
ciary, with the continuance of his personal efforts for
his own support, with a practical sense of the embar-
rassments that must always perplex an improvident life,
and with the actual encouragement of economy, dili-
gence, and self reliance. Hence, when he never ex-
pected the property to be returned, the money to be re-
funded, the rent to be paid, or the obligation to be en-

22

forced, he would take the signature of the assisted and
the relieved, not for his own security or benefit, but for
the security of their exertions, and the benefit of their
frugality. It is to be remembered also that he arose
from poverty and obscurity, that he made his ownfortune^
that he was the architect of his own empire and influ-
ence, and that he had been accustomed to regard even
minute details as parts of a great and important whole
which would have failed without them. The well
known principles of association in mental philosophy 5
especially in reference to the manner in which the love
of property is nursed by a succession of regrets arising
from its expenditure, easily show that such a man, from
the force of habit, after the necessity has ceased, may
still be careful about small sums, while he parts with
large ones with freedom and magnanimity The influ-
ence of system may thus be mistaken by the unreflect-
ing tor parsimony, and those, who see but one side of
the portrait, may easily be deceived with regard to the
other. Did not propriety forbid, you might speedily be
satisfied with the proof, which numerous facts afford, of
the charitable and generous dispositions of Colonel
Morrison.

Time will not allow me to dwell on several particu-
lars of his character which yet remain, his ready per*
ception and honest admiration of genius, his hearty at-
tachment to the ingenuous and confiding, his fixed re-
gard for the consistent and efficient, his native and en-
viable tact in selecting such persons for the objects of
his confidence, his knowledge of distinguished men and
his influence over them for all the purposes that came

23

within his proper sphere, his numerous and permanent
intimacies with those whose names adorn the pages of
American history without ever abating his self respect
or independence, his judicious politics, and his excel-
lent social habits.

I cannot entirely omit a reference to his good sense5
independence, and impartiality, as displayed in the mul-
tiplied provisions of his will. He has remembered eve-
ry individual that his diffusive benevolence could sug-
gest, and has made a most judicious distribution of
a, princely estate. The arrangements for the preven-
tion of trouble and embarrassment on the part of his
executors are uncommon and admirable. They mark
the union of clear and comprehensive views with that
useful foreknowledge of particulars which gives to a
man his executive powTer, and enables him to command
the future.

In regard to the legacies, definite and contingent, for
the University, 1 feel that 1 speak the sentiments of the
impartial public, though I am doubtless liable to no
-small bias from self interest in this respect, when I say,
that it is unquestionably one of the most useful and
honourable acts of his highly useful and honourable life.
It is now felt as well as known and acknowledged, that
the interests of education are among the most important
interests of man, and are indeed absolutely the most im-
portant, when education is taken in its extensive sense
to include the whole training of the mind, the entire for-
xnation of the character. Thefmere study of books, it
is confessed, does not constitute the chief, nor even the
most valuable part of education; but a University, when

2%

right!}' directed, is far from limiting the attention of its
youth to words, to definitions, to the shelves of its li-
brary, to the experiments of its laboratory, to the dis-
sections of its anatomical chambers, to the polished stir-

vv.' f

faces of its glistening apparatus, or to its theories of
brain and nerves. While it declares these objects to be
valuable, it is designed to make them tributary to still
higher ends, to call forth all the powers of its students
intellectual and moral, to aid them in the development
of every faculty of the immortal soul, to initiate them
into a knowlege of themselves and others, and of the
most valuable relations of society, to unfold to their
minds the laws of the visible universe with the perfec-
tions and designs of its invisible and adorable Creator^
and to teach them how to be useful, honourable, and
happy for time and eternity.

By far the greater and more valuable part of educa-
tion is unquestionably that which wre get from person-
al observation and experience, froro our intercourse with,
the beings and the things around us, and not from books.
Yet these are of incalculable value in enabling us to un-
derstand and successfully contfnct the other departments
of our common instruction, In the technical view of
the subject, an education is not indispensable to the
efficiency and happiness of the mind, either here or here-*
after, but in the sense, in which it is now used, it is
necessary to the proper application of our powers, to
the full enjoyment of our mental and sensitive nature,
and to the requisite progress of the soul in dignity,-
worth, and felicity.

Such were the ultimate objects, which our deceased

2o

benefactor proposed to himself in endowing Transylva-
nia University. To perpetuate his name in connexion
with such interests is indeed to secure immortality, not
merely in the public orations that may hereafter be proud
to celebrate his praises at our annual Commencements,
but in the affections, the gratitude, and the plaudits of
millions, who will be directly or indirectly benefitted
in their minds, characters, estates, and hopes, by this
benefaction. The professions, which are to be filled
by those who shall go forth from our walls, the legisla-
tor, the statesman, the farmer, the mechanic, even the
wife, the mother, the sister, and the daughter, all have
a common interest in the spread of intellectual and mo-
ral light, in the progress of correct knowledge, of be-
nevolent affections, and of virtuous manners.

When I look over the history of the public institu-
tions of our country, especially of those devoted to the
great cause of education, I find among their donors5
their patrons, the founders of professorships, the names
of those who have been most distinguished for their pa-
triotism, their liberal opinions, their services to the state,
and their effective philanthropy. Washington, Adams,
Franklin, Rumford, and Dexter, among a host of oth-
ers less distinguished, might be mentioned as a few of
that glorious class of American benefactors and philan-
thropists, to which Morrison has so honourably added
his name. Not many have surpassed him in the extent
of their munificence, and most are left far behind.

It deserves to be noted that the venerable sage of
Monticello, after having spent years as a diplomatist
abroad, after having witnessed and enjoyed the diverge

26

fled resources of a European life, after being raised to
the highest honours of his country, and crowned with
the wreath of imperishable glory, after having drank at
the fountains of enjoyment in almost every mode of ex-
istence, has at last devoted himself, with the ardour of
a young enthusiast, and with the perseverance of a vete-
ran in philanthropy, to the most glorious of all the pub-
lic enterprises of Virginia, the establishment, comple-
tion, and endowment of her State University. What
an example is this to illustrate the usefulness of age,
the dignity of retirement, the results of experience, the
worth of human nature, the value of mind, and an effect-
ual honourable preparation for eternity! The patriot^
scholar, and philanthropist of Q,uincy too finds no ap-
propriation of the gifts of fortune so dear to his heart in
the frosts of age, and on the verge of the grave, as that
which lays a foundation for the permanent union of lite-
rature, philosophy, and religion. What a spectacle
for European potentates to behold is thus furnished by
the plain but enlightened and truly noble servants of
our Republic in private life! What a contrast do these
benefactions for the best of all purposes exhibit to the
blood stained career of mad ambition; to the selfish,
haughty? and cruel doctrines of legitimacy; to the luxu-
ries, debaucheries, effeminacy, and decapitations of too
many of the crowned pageants that glitter through a
short and oppressive reign, and are known afterward
only for their want of capacity, usefulness, and virtue!
O my Country, long mayest thou boast of thy free insti-
tutions, thy equal laws, thy simple manners, thy hardy
and independent spirit, thy active patriots, and thy hon-

21

oured statesmen, not only in public but in private life.,
One word more for our departed friend, and I have
done. Morrison, thy life has been laborious, useful., and
honourable. Thou hast hem. successful for thyself,
and for others. Thou art now ranked with the noblest
of thy countrymen, with the best of thy species, for
thou art a distinguished patron of the dearest human
interests. Long will thy name be cherished, thy mem-
ory revered, thy bounty acknowledged, and thy munifi-
cence rewarded. Heaven and earth unite in the praises
pf the generous and the good,

THE END,

t.

"He continued with his father in the usual empbyments of agriculture UU
4pward the close of his minority." p 8.

The public is indebted to Colonel Benjamin Wbaley for the follow**
ing particulars, which are among others that were communicated by him
to the author,

Daniel Morrison, the father of James, was remarkable for the clear-
ness and power of his voice, and for his facility and success in recom-
mending articles for sale at auctions, in which he was frequently em-
ployed. James, as it was familiarly expressed, was "mauling rails" at
the time, when he was enlisted in the army by Captain Kilgour of the
8tb Pennsylvania Regiment, in 1776. He was first under the command
of Colonel McKay, and was afterward selected by Lieutenant Hardin
for dangerous enterprises, in obedience to an order from Colonel Mor-
gan. He was in the army six years.

H.

"Tiue Select Corps of Riflemen) that made itself so dreadful to ourene*
mies" p9

"General Burgoyne gives it as his opinion, that as rangers, cperhaps
there are few better in the world than the Corps of Virginia Riflemen,
which acted under Colonel Morgan ' He says, speaking of the battle
of September 10th that 'few actions have been characterised by more
obstinacy in attack or defence. The British bayonet was repeatedly tried
ineffectually.5 Remarking on the battle of the 7th of October, he observes $
fif there be any persons wbo continue to doubt that the Americans possess
the quality and faculty of fighting, call it by what term they please, they
are of a prejudice that it would be very absurd longer to contend with*-

29

He says, that in this action, the British troops 'retreated hard pressed*
but in good order ' and tbat kthe troops had scarcely entered the camp*
when it was stormed with great fury, the eoeniy rushing to the line^ un-*
der a severe rlro of grape shot and small arms.' It is gratifying to every
real American to find, that for so great a prize, his countrymen, their
enemies themselves being judges, contended so nobly, and that (heir
conduct for bravery, skill, and humanity, will stand the scrutiny of all
future ages."

Silliman's Remarks on a Tour to Quebec, pp 125 — 127.

in.

"He was in those hard fought battles of ill! about Saratoga^ that ended
in complete victory fyc p 9.

"The two great battles, which decided the fate of Burgoyne's army5
were fought, the first on the 19th of September and the last, on the 7th
of October, on Bemus's Heights, and very nearly on the same ground,
which is ahout two miles west of the river.,J "The British picket here
occupied a small house, when a part of Colonel Morgan's corps fell in
with and immediately drove them from it leaving the house almost en-
circled with dead " ''General Burgoyne states, that there was scarcely
even an interval of a minute in the smoke, when some British officer
was not shot by the American Riflemen, " "General Wilkinson states,
that the wounded men among the Americans, after having their wounds
dressed, in many instances returned again to battle." "The battle soon
extended along the whole line. Colonel Morgan, at the same moment,
attacked with his riflemen, on the right wing. Colonel Ackland, the
commander of the grenadiers, fell wounded. The grenadiers were de-
feated, and most of the artillery taken, after great slaughter."

Silliman's Remarks, pp 103, 105, 107, 108, 109.

IV.

"Colonel Morgan, writing about this to an intimate friend in Virginia,"
j>9.

Dr Ridgely, to whom I owe this anecdote, informs me, that this friend
is Mr Wayman, living near Winchester in tbat state.

V.

" Under whose fatal aim the accomplished Frazerfell" p 9.

"General Frazer was high in command in the British army, and was
almost idolized by tbem. In the battle of October the 7th, the last
pitched battle that was fought between the two armies, General Frazer,
mounted on an iron grey horse, was very conspicuous. He was all ac-
tivity, courage, and vigilance, riding from one part of his division to
another, and animating the troops by his example. WTherever he was
present, every thing prospered^ and when confusion appeared in anj

so

part of the line, order and energy were restored by his arrival. Colo-
nel Morgan, with his Virginia Riflemen, was immediately opposed to
Frazer s division of the army It had been concerted before the com-
mencement of the battle, that while the New Hampshire and the New
York troops attacked the British left, Colonel Morgan, with his regiment
of Virginia Riflemen, should make a circuit so as to come upon the
British right, and attack them there When the attack commenced on
the British left, 'true to his purpose,' Morgan, at this critical moment,
poured down like a torrent from the hill, and attacked the right of the
enemy in front an(J flank,' (Wilkinson.) The right wing soon made a
movement to support the left, which was assailed with increased vio-
lence, and while executing this movement, General Frazer received his
mortal wound, fn the midst of this sanguinary battle, Colonel Morgan
took a few of his best riflemen aside, men in whose fidelity, and fatal
precision of aim* he could repose the most perfect confidence, and said
to them: 'that gallant officer is General Frazer: I admire and respect
him. but it is necessary that he should die. Take your stations in that
wood, and do your duty * Sir Francis Clark, and many other British
officers, were the victims of American marksmanship."

Silliman's Remarks, pp 89, 90.
*This is strikingly characteristic of Morrison's skill in the use of arms*
James Colman Esquire says, there is good evidence that he killed the
celebrated "hig Indian" among the Wyandots, who had committed so>
many depredations upon the early settlers of the West.

VI.

"Dangerous but important office of a Spy." p 10.

That magnanimity, disinterestedness, patriotism, courage, and other
virtues of the highest order, may be found in this office, will not be
doubted by those who have taken the pleasure, that- every American
ought, in reading a recent production of the great novelist of our own
country.

VII.

eiHe was married at Carlisle-" p 10.

To Miss Esther Montgomery, 1791, a lady still living to enjoy, as we
trust, while she adorns by her virtues and her piety, the circle of her
own friends, and those of her late husband.

VIII.

"Unpopular measures rendered still more odious by the unfortunate course
&f their friends." p 1L

From General Thomas Bodley we have received the particulars, which
attended the commencement of Colonel Morrison's duties as Supervisor;
but it is perhaps inexpedient to renew a detailed account of the acts of
violence «nd hostility that are supposed to have been brought on by the

31

manner in which the revenue laws were executed. It is enough to knotty
that Colonel Morrison completely succeeded in rendering himself ac-
ceptable to the people, while he did his duty, and while the laws were
odious.

IX.

"His claim for thousands was established" p 12.

The sum was S823:Q00, a large part of which was money advanced
from his owk funds for the service of the nation.

. x.

"It has been remembered and honoured as his most distinguished heir."

Colonel Morrison has left g20,000 in money to the University, which
sum, it is supposed, bears interest within a year from the decease of the
testator. He has also made the University bis residuary legatee, the
product of which, it is believed by the best judges, will be §40,000 or
850 000. It may be useful to record here that part of the will, which
relates to the University, either to correct or to prevent erroneous im-
pressions upon the subject

Extract from the last will and testament of Colonel James Morrison, late

of Lexington, Kentucky, deceased.

"I give to the Trustees of the Transylvania University and their suc-
cessors the sum of twenty thousand dollars in trust, to vest the capi-
tal in sortie permanent productive fund, and out of the annual interest or
dividends accruing thereon to pay the salary of a professorship to be in-
stituted b^ them and to be denominated the "Morrison Professorship;"
or to apply the said twenty thousand dollars to the purchase of a library,
to be denominated the "Morrison Library." as the said Trustees may-
think will best promote the interest of learning and science.

"And ALDMY residuary estate beyond the sum of eleven thousand
dollars, I give and devise to the Trustees of the Transylvania University
for the benefit qf that institution to be applied to the erection of another
edifice for its purposes, to be denominated "Morrison College/' in the
town of Lexington."

XI.

« , which always overrules abuses for their own correction, mak-

ing light spring out of darkness, and forcing necessity itself to call forth the
men and the means that are to convert it info the highest good" p 13,

I do not resist my inclination to quote a paragraph, in illustration of
this idea, from the very philosophical, original, and excellent Message of
Governor Wolcott to the Legislature of Connecticut in May of the pre-
sent year.

"This afflicting survey of the degradations of savage, depraved and
despotic governments, is however relieved by equally clear demonstra-

SB

lions o? the immortal energy of truth and reason. We know that some,
perception of the Divine will, has bee»i coeval with the formation of
man. *od tb* Gmj has constantly multiplied the testimonies of his reve-
lations. The most important truths have always been the most a parent.
JYo Nation has denied the elementary principles upon which religion and so-
cial obligation depend. At all times there have existed a pure Church*
and a juat government. Though frequently obscured* these lights from
Heaven have never been extinguished, but have always re-appeared,
with renovated splendor after every eclipse. When persecuted in on©
city, science: virtue and freedom have retired to another, leaving a rem-
nant, to renew in some future period, a successful conflict with ignorance,
barbarity and vice. t has been seen in modern times, that the most ter-
rible instrument of divine discipline, even despotic rule, has accumulated
power which, on several occasions, has been exerted to destroy abuses*,
to nourish arts, and to diffuse such inestimable improvements as have
evinced, that the achievements attributed to the Heroes of antiquity 3
were not entirely visions of the imagination."

XII.

was an old and intimate friend of our excellent Chief Ma*.

gistrate." p 14.

Mr Monroe visited Colonel Morrison almost daily, and manifested a
deep interest in his situation His last visit was peculiarly affecting ta
flie family, and is remembered with a grateful and healing regard.

XIII.

c» His complaint has not yet been professionally described , but is said
to have been an abscess in his side, which affected his whole system, and
produced extreme emaciation." p 16.

Since this discourse was delivered, I have recei?ed, at the hands of Mr
Clay, the following letter, in which the professional account is given that
we then wanted.

"On examining the body of the late Colonel Morrison of Kentucky, I
found four of the lumbar vetebraa very much enlarged, and protruded in-
to the abdominal cavity, over which the Iliacus Communis passed.
This produced the strong pulsating tumour, which was so distinct-
ly felt during the Colonel's life, and which was considered an aneurismal
swelling, that which had been gradually increasing for a number of years.
It is orobable that the occasional vertigo, and pause in the motion of the
heart, of which he complained, were owing to the different changes in the
position of the body, producing more or less difficulty in the transmission
of the blood through the Iliac, theteby exciting a laborious and irregular
action in the heart The vetebrse were enlarged to such an extent that
the diameter of the brim of the Pelvis was diminished to half its natural
size. No suppuration could be discovered in their vicinity, or under
the Psoas Muscle. A few we^ks before the Colonel's death; an abscess

33

formed in Perinceo, which was opened, but no connection with the dig-
eased vertebrae could be traced by dissection. There were no symp-
toms which indicated any pressure on the spinal cord.

The liver was very much enlarged, and was, no doubt, the cause of
the train of symptoms which the Colonel complained of. Its colour was
of a grey cast, and presented a granitic appearance. This appearance
was probably owing to a gradual interstitial deposite between the paren-
chymatous structure of this viscus, which rendered it so tender that the
slightest pressure of the finger destroyed its organization. No pus was dis-
covered in it. His case terminated in marasmus, depending no doubt,
on the functional disorder of the liver, and of the organs which are as-
sociated with it in the due formation of chyle The cough, which was
occasionally troublesome, was sympathetic, or produced by the enlarged
gland pressing against the diaphragm.

The Colonel, no doubt, had been labouring under functional derange-
ment of the liver long before he came to Washington, but probably the
diseased action in this gland may have been increased by travelling dur-
ing the winter season, and by exposure to the vicissitudes of the weath-
er after bis arrival here I think it probable, that in the jorming state of
his diseasej if the Colonel's mind had not been prejudiced against the us®
of mercury, the only remedy, on which a reliance could have been placed,
its progress might have been arrested. His case clearly points out to
me the impropriety of exciting prejudices against this or that medicine;
for no one can be a competent judge of the necessary remedies, who has
not an opportunity of witnessing the changes, which may take place in,
the diseased state of the system, requiring a difference of treatment cor-
responding to those changes."

Washington, April 27th, \^d. E. CUTBUSH.

u Washington City, May 3, 1823.

"Having been associated with I)r Cutbush in attendance upon the
kte Colonel Morrison during his last confinement, I fully concur with
him in the above statement.'3

THOS. SIM.

XIV.

iC — * he died with equal honour as a philosopher and a chris*

Han. p 16.

It will be highly gratifying to the friends of Colonel Morrison, and to
iho public generally, to read the following letter, which was written at
my request, and which preserves some of the information that I had be-
fore received in conversation.

Ashland, June, 1823,

"Sir— Agreeably 'to the wish which yoo expressed to me, I proceed
to state some circumstances attending the last illness of our late highly
respected friend and townsman Colonel James Morrison.

Upon my reaching Washington, late in January last, I learnt that ha
5

34

was sick and bad been indisposed for some weeks. I immediately went
to see him, and found him, though much reduced, still capable of trans-
acting business, and occasionally going out. I saw him every day from
that time until the day of his death, except about two weeks, during
which I was absent from the City. His loss of strength and decline
were gradual, but quite perceptible. Shortly after I first saw him, I
formed the opinion that he never would leave the City, He entertained
however hopes himself until within a ^qw days of his death, and was very
attentive, in the execution of the prescriptions of his physicians, and to
every particular which he supposed might conduce to the restoration of
his health. All the soothing attentions and acts of unaffected kindness,
which occurred to any of his numerous friends and acquaintances, were
promptly and sedulously performed. The President took the most live-
ly concern in his recovery, daily sending to enquire about his condition,
transmitting from his table choice articles of food, and frequently calling
in person to see and cheer him.

Shortly after my arrival at the City, I communicated to him my ap-
prehensions about him, and advised him to make all necessary prepara-
tions for the most awful event. He kept by him the New Testament,
which he continued to read as long as his strength permitted him. He
was often visited, towards the latter period of his illness daily, by one or
the other of two highly respectable Clergymen (Messrs Hawley and Me-
Cormick) and joined them in religious exercises. On the occasion of
one of those visits, I was present when the Clergyman asked him if he
should read a chapter in the bible aod continue their accustomed devo-
tions. Ke answered yes, and I retired, supposing he would prefer to be
alone. Upon his remarking, on my return, that I had not united with
them in prayer, I took the opportunity of expressing to him my hope that
he felt himself contented and at ease in his religious relations. He
promptly replied that he had not now to form his opinions on that subject*
that they had been long settled; that these gentlemen (alluding to the
Clergymen) were pious good men, and had good intentions; and that he
thought it right that they should perform the duties incident to their sta-
tion. What was the precise nature of his opinions I did not enquire, nor
do I certainly know. It was enough for me that he was satisfied with
(hem.

No man ever bore, with more fortitude, protracted illness than he did.
A groan, a complaint never escaped him. No man could contemplate,
with more perfect calmness and composure, his dissolution than he did.
He requested his kind and attentive friend George Graham Esquire and
myself, a few days before his death, to have his body opened. The
morning I left him, he stated to me that he could not survive, enquired
when the ensuing Comity Court of Fayette would be, and observed,
upon my informing him, that his executors might then qualify and "go
to work ,J The pressure of duties at home, from which I had been de-
tained mueji longer than I anticipated when 1 left it, obliged me most

V5

reluctantly to separate myself from him on the 22d of April. It was then
expected that he might linger some days, if not weeks, But he expired
the next morning, about eighteen hours after my departure, and exhibit-
ed (to quote the language of Mr Graham) "one of the most remarkable
instances of the sleep of death ever witnessed."
With great respect I am faithfully yours,

H CLAY.
The Rev: H Rolley.

Wednesday Morning, 6 o'clock.
"Dear Sir— I hasten to advise you of the event anticipated when you
left us yesterday morning, but which has taken place earlier than we then
expected. Our friend expired this morning about one o'clock, without
a struggle, retaining his senses to the last moment, and exhibiting one
of the most remarkable instances that ever was witnessed of the sleep
of death. You will readily conceive the effect, which this melancholy
event has produced on Mrs Morrison, but I beg you to be assured that
every service, which it is in my power to render her, will be offered as
well while she remains here as in facilitating her return to Kentucky by
whatever route she may designate."
Yours very respectfully.,

GEO: GRAHAM.
H Clay, Es^.

The Reverend Mr Laurie performed the official services at the fu-
neral.

xv.

" . -pursuing a lofty tone of expostulation and rebuke" p 18.

This passage has reference especially to an account of a conversation
between Colonel Morrison and a clergyman, which I had the pleasure to
hear detailed with great interest by our truly catholic, amiable, and wor-
thy citizen and christian, Mr Andrew McCalla.

xvi.

" — when education is taken in its extensive sense to include the

whole training of the mind, the entire formation of the character, p 23.

I am desirous of preventing erroneous impressions concerning ray
opinions about the importance of education. It has been supposed, or at
least said, that I inculcate the sentiment, which requires an education for
admission into heaven, and of course that scholars only are saved. I
hardly think it necessary to say, in a formal manner, that this is a mis-
take, but it may be well to direct the attention of the reader to the dis-
tinction between an academical or book education and that natural edu-
cation which is acquired by our progress in life and our intercourse with
the world. Virtue i3 essential to eternal happiness. Other words may
be adopted to express the same general truth; thus, a right formation of

30

character, a suitable developement of the faculties of the soul, such a
union of knowledge and of good dispositions as constitutes wisdom and
benevolence, or the various and comprehensive state of mind included in
the word education, may be declared to be necessary to our complete
and everlasting happiness, that happiness which we mean when we speak
of salvation. The want of literature is very different from the want of
knowledge and of virtue, I have known some excellent and philosophi-
cal minds, which had little knowledge of books. There are also men,
who have much literature, and no philosophy. The distinction is easily
understood between a natural and on artificial education,

XVII,

"Washing ton,, Adams, Franklin, Ruwford, and Dexter" p25,

Washington was a benefactor of the college ia Lexington, Virginia,
Adams has always been both a distinguished scholar, and a zealous pa-
tron of letters He is mentioned again in a following note. Franklin
is remembered annually in the distribution of prizes in the public schools
of Boston, the proceeds of a fund left by him for the encouragement of
learning. He is also remembered in numerous associations with this cause
in Pennsylvania. Rurnford Mt between g40.G00 and g50 000 to Har-
vard University in a residuary legacy, the fruits of which are already re-
alised in a most useful professorship ably filled. Dexter the father of the
late Samuel Dexter of Massachusetts, one of the iirst men in any age
or country, left 85,000 for a lectureship in Cambridge,

XVIII.

*< JSCql many have surpassed him in the extent ofilielr munificence"' p 25 .

William Bartlett of Newburypori in Massachusetts, and Mr Abbot of
the same state, have given greater sums to the Theological College at
Andover Abiel Smith and Count Rumfcrd have given each about g40,
000 to Harvard, but the list of benefactions to institutions of learning
shows few sums greater than that of Colonel Morrison to Transylvania.

six.

ec The patriot, scholar, and philanthropist of Quincy." p 26.

"We have seen a pamphlet, containing the deeds of gift from the Hon-
ourable John Adams, of several pieces of land, and of his library, to the
town of Quincy, with a catalogue of the library, lie first deed begins
in the following terms:-— 'Know all men by these presents, that f, John
Adams, of Quincy, in the county of Norfolk. Esquire, in consideration of
the veneration which I feel for the residence of my ancestors, and the
place of my nativity; and of the habitual affection I bear to the inhabit-
ants, with whom I have so happily lived for more than eighty six years—
and of my sincere desire to promote their happiness, and the instruction
of their posterity in religion, morality, and all useful arts and sciences, by
contributing all in my power for these purposes, do hereby give, grant.

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&c. The instrument then proceeds to describe some lots of land and to
convey them to the town of Quincy for building a temple for the puhlic
worship of God, and public instruction of religion and morality, for the
use of the Congregational society of this town, and next after the com-
pletion of said temple that all the future rents, profits and emoluments
arising from said lands be applied to the support of a school for the
teaching of the Greek and Latin languages, arts, and sciences, which a
majority of the ministers, magistrates, lawyers and physicians inhabiting
the same town may advise " This deed was executed June 25, 1822, and
the grant was accepted by vote of the town with the restrictions and con-
ditions on the 8th of July; and a vote of thanks was passed.

The second deed, executed on the 26th of July, 1822, conveys six lots
.of land described therein, on the same conditions named in the first deed,
with others, one of which was in the following words: * Provided, that
when the objects mentioned in the former deed are obtained, a stone
school house shall be erected over the cellar which was under the house
anciently built by the Rev: John Hancock, the father of John Hancock,
the great, generous, disinterested, and bountiful benefactor of bis coun-
try, once President of Congress, and afterwards Governor of this state,
to whose great exertions and unlimited sacrifices this nation is so deep-
ly indebted for her independence and present prosperity, who was born
in this house; and which bouse was afterwards purchased and inhabited
by the reverend, learned, ingenious, and eloquent Lemuel Bryant, pastor
of this congregation; which house was afterwards purchased by an hon-
ourable friend of my younger years, Col: Josiah Quincy, and also inha-
bited by his son Josiah Quincy, jr, a friend of my riper years, a brother
barrister at law, with whom I have been engaged in many arduous con-
tests at the bar, who was as ardent a patriot as any of hi? age and next to
James Otis, the great orator.' This donation was accepted with thanks5
In town meeting, Aug. 6.

The third instrument is a conveyance on certain conditions to the town
of Quincy, in consideration of the motives and reasons enumerated in
two former deeds, of his Library, which is thus described, viz: — 'The
fragmets of my Library, which still remain in my possession, excepting
a few that I shall reserve for my consolation, in the kw days that remain
to me ' This also was accepted by the town, with thanks. To this
document is annexed a catalogue of the library, containing nearly three
thousand volumes."

Boston Daily Advertiser.

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